Guinea Hen Weed
I haven’t posted to my blog in a few months. Hopefully, you noticed. However, I was invited to be a guest blogger for the Herb Companion magazine, so I did a post for them. Check it out at HerbCompanion.com.
I’m a gatherer of information and I’ve been doing some serious collecting lately. I’ve got lots of great stuff to share with you. I’ll get right on that.
My latest favorite is the Guinea Hen Weed. I find this herb to be absolutely amazing. I’m wondering why there isn’t more of it around.
Dried guinea hen weed in my hand.
I learned about this plant in Kingston, Jamaica last year. A friend (David Couch) asked me if I’d ever heard of it. I hadn’t. When he began to describe this herb to me I jumped up with excitement. “Do you have any? Can you show me?” You’ll have to click on the HerbCompanion.com link for the rest of the story.
This extraordinary plant fights cancer and scientists are actively studying its properties. This herb can find and kill the cancer cells without damaging the good, disease-fighting cells. I need to add a disclaimer here in the middle of my story. I’m not a doctor and I am making no claims about anything. I simply gather information that I find to be wonderful and pass it along. The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs by Leslie Taylor has a wealth of information on guinea hen weed. Click here for an excerpt from the book.
A bag of dried guinea hen weed with a label on it from a health food store in Kingston, Jamaica.
Guinea hen weed (Petiveria allicea) is a viney plant that grows all over the island of Jamaica. It’s also known as ‘skunk weed’ because it has a really stinky smell to it when it’s fresh. It doesn’t smell bad when it’s dried.
I found many stores that sell the dried herb in Jamaica. I paid $200 Jamaican dollars for the bag in the photo above which converts to $2.85 U.S. There’s a website called Rain Tree Nutrition that sells it in the United States in capsule form, (they call it anamu).
I believe interest in this healer is gaining in popularity and I bet you’ll be hearing more about it.
Come grow with us!
Pick Me Yard 
April 11, 2012 at 9:32 pm
glad to see you are back at it! XO
April 11, 2012 at 11:07 pm
Cool,where can you get seeds for that.I just got a mytragina Speciosa tree(Kratom) and also my longan / lychee came today.It says Dragon’s eye on the label.And my other lychee is coming this week.I love gardening, it relieves a lot of stress and tastes great.My cats got a catnip plant today ,they tore that up LOL. Herbs are nature’s cure.
Thanks for the info and pics
April 12, 2012 at 12:53 pm
My cats just devoured our new catnip plant too. I think I’m going to dedicate an entire area to catnip so there’s plenty for all of us because we love it too. It’s like crack for my cats.
You are so right about herbs being nature’s cure. We’ve been using our herbs more and more in our daily lives. We have our own pharmacy growing in our yard.
Thanks for reading my blog… I hope you’ll keep reading and commenting. I had to look up the Kratom because I hadn’t heard of it. It sounds fascinating! I don’t have seeds for the Guinea Hen Weed, but I’m trying to get some. I’ll let you know when I do.
April 11, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Hey there!
I was wondering, you have any seeds from this “Guinea Hen Weed”? I would love to plant a few and see what comes up!
A little about me:
Like yourself I like to grow all kinds of things at home, including Jasmines (about 23 different kinds), fruit trees, blueberrys, Bannana Trees, Coffee, Green Tea, different Mints, Stevia, Albizia Julibrissen, Cheremoya, Tomatoes, Potatoes…..a TON of other stuff….and most recently I ordered Clove seeds!
Some of the “different” plants not from the area grow good, others die. I’m ok with whatever I can get! This plant you are talking about, Guinea Hen Weed, sounds like something I’d really like to try. Let me know if you maybe have some seeds or have access to some seeds, I’d love to give it a try.
Thanks!
~John
April 12, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Hi John,
Thank you for your feedback. I always love to hear from others.
You and I are plant collectors. Sometimes they thrive even when others tell us it’s not possible and sometimes they die. Either way, I love to try too. You’re growing some fabulous plants! Oh, the rewards they will give you.
Unfortunately, I do not have any guinea hen weed seeds or a plant. I’m working on that though. When I do, I will gladly share some with you. I’ll send you an email when I do.
Lisa
April 16, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Yeay!!! 😀 Thank you! I would love to give ’em a try!
Before gardening I was doing websites, and now I have a few garden related websites!
My first site is http://gardenoftomorrow.com/ – I write about plants I actually have, so you can see some of what I have going on. I am still working on it all the time too.
The other, a long term project, is http://whentoplant.com/ It’s going to be all about foods, edible things, fruit veggies, herbs, etc and towards the end ornamentals and the like. It’s only got a few things up atm, but it’s under going some big changes this week and probably next week too.
Anyways, thank you again, I look forward to your email!
May 10, 2012 at 9:57 am
http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=2822
May 10, 2012 at 10:10 am
Brooke, This is an awesome link on guinea hen weed. THANK YOU!
November 7, 2012 at 5:35 am
I am truly grateful to the owner of this website who has shared this fantastic post at here.
November 7, 2012 at 5:59 am
Thank you, Opal 🙂
January 8, 2013 at 12:32 pm
I Bought the guinea hen weed powder. It this as good as the plant? How do I use the powder to make a tea?
January 30, 2013 at 2:23 pm
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate to this excellent blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to brand new updates and will talk about this site with
my Facebook group. Talk soon!
February 9, 2013 at 1:07 pm
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! A donate button would motivate me to keep up with my posts because time is money and keeping a blog current takes a ton of time.
July 20, 2013 at 12:24 am
As a Jamaican, I’m ashamed to say that my country should be a rich one with all its wealth hidden within its soil. If only we could tap into our God-given root system, I believe we’d reap much fruit of our labour. Glad you had the opportunity to experience our guinea hen weed. Next up…try our soursop leaves! 🙂
July 20, 2013 at 10:12 am
Michelle, I agree with you completely about Jamaica!
It’s funny to me that I learned about Guinea Hen weed in Jamaica because I learned later that it is abundant all around me in Florida. Apparently it is native to Florida yet only a handful of people (the herbalists) have ever heard of it and even less can actually identify it. I planted some local seeds last year and it has re-seeded everywhere for me. I love it!
I’ve just recently been hearing about the goodness of soursop leaves. I will definitely have to try some.
December 12, 2013 at 10:48 am
Hello, am Covel, student at Delaware state university.
I want to grow some Guinea hen weed seed in the greenhouse but I would love if you can provide me with ideal germination conditons.
Thanks.